Empire of Shadows

61:00:00

At twelve o’clock at night, the largest and most popular bar in the Golden Port Bay Area entered its most popular business time. The little black guys were standing on the stage, singing songs with a very rhythmic sense. The bar was full of people who were having fun.

The decoration here was very good, the location was very good, and the crowd that could consume here was also very good.

The bars in the Bay Area were never short of the patronage of the rich. For the rich, if squandering money could let them get some happiness from a vulgar life, they didn’t mind spending a lot of money.

This was also the most common problem that the people at the bottom encountered—

Why would the rich rather squander their money than to give it to the poor?

If he gives it to you, what can you bring him?

To suck his balls, or to make him feel happy?

No, you can’t do anything. A single ”thank you” from you can’t even make their emotions fluctuate, let alone make them feel good!

But if they squander it here, the tobacco, the liquor, the sex, can let them release their desires and get the simplest, most primitive, and very transparent happiness!The security guards of the bar management team were patrolling the entire bar from behind the railing on the second floor, looking for those who were breaking the rules. If they found them, they would first reason with them.

If reasoning didn’t work, for example, if these people were drunk, they would be beaten up and then thrown out.

Arthur had his arms around two girls. The two girls were attacking each other in a fight for a lollipop, which made Arthur feel very happy, very relaxed. This was the fucking life that a man should live!

He had already talked it over with the general manager of Wanli Film Production. He would invest 100,000 to test the waters, to shoot a movie, to see if he could make a little profit, or if he would suffer a loss.

This news had been leaked by someone, which had led to the fact that every day, he was surrounded by many girls who wanted to become famous.

In the era when opera was king, it was not an easy matter to sing an opera well. This required more than ten years of professional study to become an opera star.

And the most crucial point was that you had to have a strong background and backing to be able to get by in the opera industry, which was full of drama tyrants.

There were too many requirements and conditions to be a female opera star, but to be a female movie star, not only did it bring in money quickly, but it also did not require much professional skill.

As long as you knew how to be flirtatious, that was what the audience liked.

So these girls, for the sake of a good life in the future, did not hesitate to fight for Arthur’s lollipop.

Seeing them tear each other’s hair, Arthur couldn’t help but laugh out loud!

52:15:07

”I’m announcing something now. My birthday was originally next week, but I have something to do next week and may not be able to be in Golden Port City, so I plan to celebrate it a week in advance.”

Lance had announced this in the company. The others did not feel that there was any problem. To celebrate a birthday in advance, this was very normal.

In fact, compared to the ritual of celebrating a birthday on the actual day, a birthday was more often a time for everyone to temporarily forget everything and have a good time together.

Everyone had expressed their support for this decision. No one had jumped out to object, nor was there any need to.

Then Lance said again, ”This time we will be celebrating our birthday on the Creek Valley City side. It just so happens that Gerald’s (a fellow countryman and movie actor) new movie is going to have its premiere. We can just go and attend the premiere.”

Lance raised his wrist and glanced at the calendar on it. ”We’ll go over tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow in the morning. We’ll have a meal together at noon, take a walk in the afternoon, and then come back in the evening or the next day.”

Someone raised his hand. ”Can I not go?”

Lance neither objected, nor did he clearly express his support. ”You can try.”

”If you say so, then I’m fine.”

Everyone burst into laughter. Lance was also smiling. ”But my suggestion is, you’d better not try!”

”Alright, everyone has to go. Don’t find excuses for yourselves. Now the city can run stably without us.”

”If any captain wants to go, they can also go.”

After he had announced this, he clapped his hands. ”Alright, go and do your things!”

”You bastards!”

He turned and returned to his office as he spoke, but Mello had followed.

”Did something happen?” he asked after he had closed the door.

Lance walked to the side of the bar and poured himself a glass of wine. ”Why would you think that?”

As he spoke, he took out a bottle of whiskey. ”Want some?”

Mello shook his head. ”I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.”

Lance took a sip from the short glass. There were ice cubes in it. Whiskey with ice was easier to drink, and the aroma and sweetness in the wine were also easier to discover.

He held the wine glass and raised it slightly. ”You just have to do as I say.”

This was a very standard affirmative answer, but it did not contain any affirmative sentences or dialogue.

Mello’s expression was grave as he nodded. ”Should I have Alvin and the others come back?”

”Absolutely not!”

Then Lance, on the pretext of his own birthday, had notified some other people. For Lance to want to go to Creek Valley City for his birthday, everyone didn’t say much.

From Golden Port City to Creek Valley City, it was a little over a three-hour drive. It could be said that you could go for a meal in the morning, and be back in the afternoon.

Mayor Williams was constantly expanding the scale of Golden Port City. It was said that in the new plan, Golden Port City would be expanded to the northwest by about ten to twenty kilometers.

At that time, from Golden Port City to Creek Valley City, it would only be a little over a two-hour journey.

Mayor Williams’s city expansion plan had also made some people associate it with the issue of city annexation.

Recently, many people had been discussing this matter, whether it was necessary to incorporate Creek Valley City into Golden Port City. Whether it was in the private sector, or in the officialdom, there were people who were discussing this.

To be incorporated into Golden Port City was not all bad for Creek Valley City, but it was not all good either. Some supported it, and some opposed it. Everyone was discussing it very enthusiastically.

Some people had also asked Lance. Lance believed that this was not very likely to be realized.

If the two cities were to merge, there would be one less administrative system, which would mean that the interests of many people would be harmed.

The government of the Federation was actually not efficient at all, and had no spirit of sacrifice. These people would not sacrifice themselves for the growth of Golden Port City, unless there was a higher-level, decisive force to intervene.

So even if the two cities were really stuck together, they would not merge.

However, this had also made many people have the idea of going to Creek Valley City for a trip. With the weather getting warmer, and the status of Creek Valley City in the film circle getting higher and higher, many of the people of Golden Port would take Creek Valley City as one of their tourist destinations.

26:16:39

The new legal team sent by the Labor Federation had already met Mr. Walter, as well as the previous legal representative and his team.

Although the Labor Federation had said on the surface that they trusted the legal representative, they had still sent a new legal team over.

To this, the legal representative had no objection. In fact, for a lawyer like him, to have someone share the responsibility with him was on the contrary a good thing, because he would definitely demand every cent of the fee he was supposed to.

It would not be because there was another legal team involved that their team’s legal fees would be reduced from two thousand a day to a thousand a day.

The other team would not take the initiative to reduce their income either. On the contrary, because of some of the ideas they had proposed, the fee requirement might be increased.

Mr. Walter’s case was once again brought out in its entirety. The police’s side had also provided some copies of the evidence, testimony, and witnesses. In a conference room in the police station that had cost six hundred to obtain, the new legal team, after checking all the materials, had given Mr. Walter the same view as the legal representative.

”It’s impossible to win. All the evidence, testimony, and witnesses are against you. And the most crucial thing is that you were drinking.”

”Alcohol will make you lose your self-control, so the jury will be more inclined to believe that it was the result of you losing control after drinking. This is already the best development. We can’t let them think that you did it with subjective malice.”

Mr. Walter had not shaved for the past few days, which made him look very disheveled and haggard. ”I’ve also been considering this problem these past few days. We’ve mentioned the issue of cross-state extradition before.”

”So is it possible to have me extradited to another state for trial?”

”As long as I am not tried on Lance’s turf, I will have a chance to make an acquittal defense, right?”

Both groups of lawyers agreed with his point of view, but not completely. The new team had signaled for the legal representative to speak, which was mainly a statement.

Although they had also come, they did not intend to lead this case.

The legal representative had accepted the other party’s favor and, after a slight nod of acknowledgment, he had said, ”There is this possibility, but at the same time it is not very likely.”

”To extradite you to another state, you first need to have committed a crime in another state, and someone has reported it to the police, and only then will we have a chance to get you over.”

”To find someone to create some problems now is probably not going to be in time, and there is a greater probability that the court on the Likalai State side will not release you.”

”Once the local court’s trial is over, even if you are taken to another state to appeal, the other circuit courts may not necessarily support you in making an acquittal defense.”

”The most crucial thing is that we are running out of time.”

”The evidence structure of this case is too complete. The trial will begin next week at the latest.”

”So I have discussed it with them. We will still try our best to work in the direction of ’guilty but no imprisonment.’ This possibility is still greater.”

Hearing these words, Mr. Walter was very devastated. Even if they had really helped him to not be imprisoned, his life was also ruined.

A criminal is not qualified to be a person of a noble status like the chairman of the national congress of the Workers’ Party. His career, his dream, were all finished!

Mr. Walter took a deep breath. ”Last time I asked you to help me contact Lance...”

The legal representative nodded and said, ”I have contacted him, and I have also mentioned that you want to communicate with him, but Mr. Lance just had me pass on a sentence to you.”

”What sentence?”

”Good luck!”

”Fuck!”

Mr. Walter slammed the table hard. He was already unable to sit still. He stood up and walked back and forth a few steps. ”What does the Labor Federation’s side say?”

The representative of the new legal team shook his head. ”We are not clear about these things. They just had us come and find out about the situation here, to see if there is anything we can help with.”

Mr. Walter was completely desperate. He could only seek what the legal representative had said, to plead guilty and to accept the punishment, but to try his best not to go to prison. This was already the limit of what he could accept at present.

The fact that Mr. Walter was willing to accept this defense plan was naturally very good. Then they began to discuss what to do next.

Including finding the waitress, providing sufficient compensation, and also finding a way to get her letter of understanding.

The jury could not decide how many years he would be sentenced, but they could express their opinion to the judge, to have him sentenced less or not at all.

They had chatted for more than two hours before they separated. They had all gone to prepare to put in effort on this case.

00:25:27

On a fishing boat that was engaged in fishing operations in the East Sea, east of Golden Port, a fisherman who was pulling in the net suddenly stopped his work and looked towards the sea area further east.

His partner, seeing that the other party had not been cooperating with him all along, couldn’t help but look at him. ”What are you daydreaming about?”

The fisherman said nothing, but still stared at the position behind him. His partner, with a look of curiosity on his face, slowly turned around and looked back.

In the distance, some black things were rapidly growing larger, and were rushing towards them...

(End of a Chapter)

This chapter was translated by Nightjar Reads. For advance chapters and the newest releases, visit nightjarreads.com